Wen Tao:

Are you referring to the eucalyptus with brown / dead leaves?

The cold ice snap we had this winter is what killed off these trees, they usually do quite well in the driest parts of yunnan.

I agree on the fire hazard from eucalyptus, must i say dead or alive.. although i cant see them planting another species because the main reason they plant them is for paper production. In southern Yunnan they clearcut the old growth forest to plant eucalyptus.
Mike

We are down here in Jinggu for the same festival and Paragliding, hot at 34oC..

The Yangtze river used to flow southwards (from Lijiang) into the valley of the Red river prior of the uplifting of the Yunnan plateau. A theory which is researched / studied.

Established residences and hotels need to have sewage holding tanks which could be pumped / sucked out via trucks with pumps. It's an existing technology which is another economic boost for local small business growth.. I dont mind if the cost of hotels in the dali area would go up if it really meant the sewage would be dumped in a proper treatment pond somewhere outside the Erhai catchment basin.

The same needs to be done with Fu Xian Lake..
In my opinion, Fu Xian lake is much more important. The lake is fed by huge underground rivers flowing from the north of Yunnan and the Tibet plateau, quite unique on this planet for it's sheer size.

Fu Xian is an impressive jewel of crystal clear water which needs to be protected from corruption and greed.

Licensing boat traffic may be a minor part of the lake's water quality but it has to be the most corrupt sector of ErHai's management officials.

Er Hai's management forbids all boat traffic except the huge cruise ships, obviously a bribe from the later's owners to corner the tourist market.
This has a considerable negative effect of Erhai's tourism growth.

Local residents and fishermen loose out on income while the rich and the connected get richer.

Mao must be turning in his grave to see all this corruption.